City Council approves records storage software
By DAVID LOWE Staff Writer

Lampasas City Council Monday approved the purchase of management software for Oak Hill Cemetery, which will allow electronic records of burial data and plot ownership information. Current handwritten documentation is entered in ledger books, which Oak Hill Cemetery director Monty Blackmon said are vulnerable to fire or storm damage.

The council's 7-0 vote authorized spending $6,974 for a documentation program from Resource Information Associates Inc. The company's quote includes $5,725 for software and $1,249 in annual fees, which provide customer service the other three bidders did not guarantee the city. Other municipalities, including Killeen, use Resource Information Associates' services and have been satisfied, Blackmon said.

The city has budgeted $9,500 for cemetery software. Blackmon recommended that data entry work be completed before Lampasas purchases additional mapping programs. When officials finish entering data into electronic files, people can search for burial information through the city's Web site.

The council also unanimously approved police and fire department escorts for the XFX and LTP spirit clubs at downtown pep rallies during high school football season each Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

In fulfilling a requirement of the city's contract with Preservation Lampasas Inc., Mayor Judy Hetherly presented an update on the Lampasas Colored School restoration. A preservation architect was hired by Preservation Lampasas for $10,000 to determine the scope of work to be completed and to submit an application to the Texas Historical Commission.

Preservation Lampasas is applying for a $35,000 Texas Historical Commission grant, which the Lampasas group would match, and a $25,000 grant from the LCRA. Preservation Lampasas plans to borrow from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the remainder of the intitial $116,000 renovation project.

The group has received three bids from contractors -- who all have done historical restoration work -- for replacement of the building's roof and walls. Workers also will remove both the kitchen and bathroom to restore the original layout of Lampasas Colored School, built as a one-room structure in 1923.